The invention relates to a system for the transport by passive vehicles of the type in which the vehicles are moving with the assistance of wheels onto treadways of a track. As a way of ensuring the displacement of the vehicles, a series of rotary tubes are arranged without any discontinuity in the longitudinal direction of the track, and means for guiding the vehicles along the latter we provided, Each vehicle comprises at least two bogies carrying displacement wheels, at least one drive roller for propelling the vehicle through frictional contact with the outer peripheral surface of the rotary tubes and the axis of rotation of which is steerable with respect to the axis of the tubes through pivoting about a substantially vertical axis between a position parallel to the tubes in which the rollers do not propel the vehicle and a position of maximum propulsion, and a device for guiding the vehicle adapted to co-operate with the guide means of the track.
The transport systems of this kind, which are known, exhibit the major inconvenience of requiring a relatively complex and expensive infrastructure and equipment on the vehicles intended to co-operate with this infrastructure with a corresponding complexity.
These systems in view of their excessive costs of installation and operation are not competitive with respect to other known transport systems, such as tramways. Thus the advantage of much better compatibility with the environment than the known systems are brought into disrepute by the above-mentioned economical inconveniences.